Sophilicity: MCM

I don't really know where to begin with this... Honestly, there's so much to say and I don't know where to start it off.

As of the 14th of June 2016, I can finally say, it's been a year since I first started my blog. Thus making this my 1 year anniversary for my blog.

I believe, I've come a long way from when I first started this blog. The purpose of my blog was to share events around London because I loved travelling and with the addition of having a camera this helped me start my blog posts.

So let's rewind back in time?

My first blog was about MCM Expo 2015. Along with a friend I managed to go around the venue, enjoy snacks and food and even watch some League of Legends tournaments. Looking back at my photos, even then my photography skills were quite limited. Back then I wasn't even too sure what kind of audience I was aiming my blog posts for... Whether to be formal or not? Casual or not?

Following on from my first post, I proceeded to blog about my experiences and eventually I even began promoting events throughout London. Some include the Eat Asia Night Market, back in November 2015. The event gave me an opportunity to have my own giveaway for my blog readers as well as experience a variety of foods at the night market. Something I personally enjoyed as a foodie myself!

As 2016 began, I think one of the biggest opportunities I managed to get was the HISTORY concert in February. Alongside promoting the event with promoters from France and Korea, I was also able to attend the event as Arpeggios Entertainment's own photographer. This gave me the opportunity to take photos of the concert with special access (I totally got a great view at the front!), take photos for the Meet & Greet and even work with HISTORY backstage. Furthermore, the next day I was even showing HISTORY around London with a friend - I'm sure there were quite a few people who wished to be in my place, right there and then aha!

This opportunity probably gave me one of the biggest boosts for my blog. My posts about HISTORY reached a total of over 2000 views which honestly it's such an achievement for me. I'm happy to even hear from people that they've read my blog but to know that I've reached probably over 2000 viewers all at once, worldwide, I was ecstatic!

And having a chance to meet idols who you've followed since their debut, that has to be one of the dreams that every fan wants in a lifetime - It doesn't mean I didn't stay professional whilst doing so. You can be a fan, but don't forget they are human beings too - And they were all lovely!

But since it's been a year, what am I planning to do for the future?

Well I actually have a lot in store. It just so happens I'll be doing a bit of travelling this summer, and my final exam is actually tomorrow, funnily enough. So I'm trying to dedicate this summer to give my readers the opportunity to read more, hopefully posting 2 blog posts at least a week. I've also got a lot of blog posts to be catching up over these months as I've been so busy with studies I haven't had a chance to write them all up.

As you guys know, this blog was originally dedicated to events but as it has been a year since I started this blog, I want to begin to expand my blog to feature other topics from fashion, to music and more. I've already started to begin to expand my blog as you can see from my posts about food places I've visited, recommended and reviewed! And I've also got some exciting opportunities ahead, which I hope to tell you guys later on - Don't want to spoil the fun now, right?!

Before I move onto my special 1 year anniversary giveaway, I want to just thank everyone. To everyone who walks up to me, talking to me about my blog in person, to those who have supported me and continue to support me, to all those who recognise my blog and enlighten me with their compliments. I just want to thank you. I am so grateful to hear such wonderful comments,and honestly I could cry right now just to know how much my blog has been read by people of the world.

If you haven't had a chance to read the reasons behind starting my blog, you can check out my about section on my blog below. It gives you guys a further insight to how I went about starting it.

Introducing my blog

But enough of these feels, it's time for me to reward you guys with an opportunity to win some prizes. I managed to get some assistance with LoveJojo who will be helping me out with today's giveaway! Thank you, LoveJojo, you're the best!

I managed to sort out a giveaway for 2 different prizes, meaning one lucky winner will be able to win both of these prizes!

The prizes up for grabs include:
- Kracie Popin' Cookin' DIY Candy Kit Painting Gummy Land
- Alpacasso "Tsum Tsum" Phone Screen Cleaner Cube Charm (White)

These gifts which I've chosen were handpicked by myself. Each of which have been picked for certain reasons. The popin' cookin kit has been something I've always enjoyed watching on YouTube. I love miniature designs and I love food so this is totally something which I had to include in this giveaway. And if you don't know already, I love TsumTsums, I currently have a collection of 5-6 TsumTsums at the moment varying in different sizes!

Thanks for entering if you have, and I hope to announce the winner by the 15th of July, so make sure to check back at this space for the winner! The winner will be contacted on the day and if there is no response within 24 hours, the winner will be redrawn. The giveaway will end on the 14th of July at 23:59 (GMT).

Thank you for reading, and I will hoping to be posting more frequently soon!

11:28 No comments

So I've been to this event consecutive times already yet I honestly found this event to be the best. Although the price increased for tickets and the queuing layout has changed throughout the years, MCM is the best when you spend with your friends or other fellow cosplayers.

For queue times, I was surprised it was faster than usual, even with a general entry it didn't take us long to enter the convention. But who would have thought that within the first few minutes of joining the queue you would end up bumping into a group of friends you knew? Just me? Oh. Well it happened, and at least it was nice to see a few familiar faces which I hadn't seen for a long time.

If I am perfectly honest, I'm not exactly one of the typical buyers at MCM. I was totally there for the £2.99 offer of pocky provided by Art Box. The 4 flavours they offered was: chocolate, chocobanana, strawberry and milk - Yeah... Anyways enough about pocky, I was fortunate enough to even discover this one time deal at MCM. That life struggle when you wait awkwardly to receive your 1p change from the seller, and he stands their giving you looks (thankfully I was with my friend phew, or this would be have been much more awkward...) but we did receive our change eventually...

But other than pocky, we also purchased takoyaki. If you haven't tried it, I honestly recommend it. It's literally octopus balls, which doesn't sound that all appealing but trust me it tastes so good. It's known to be a typical Japanese street food. But it is also great for sharing with friends and family if you want small bites to eat. I honestly only spent money on food... Which I have no regrets for...

After the purchases of food, we went off to watch the the League of Legends tournament in the Esports section. I think we were fortunate to receive a free skin for the game. After inputting our details we retrieved the Riot Kayle skin (which apparently isn't available anymore to purchase?) but we made our way to our seats for UK Premiership finals. However, the finals went surprisingly quick, and already there was an obvious winner.

But what probably made my day with MCM was having the opportunity to have a meet up with all of my close friends. Although it was merely a game of trying to find everyone in a massive convention - meaning using the specials skills of being a short person and swerving through crowds (trust me it was eventful). But in the end, we found a good spot on the green to all chill and listen to tunes that were currently being played out in the open. The great thing about MCM is that everyone is really comfortable with each other, although dressing in cosplay tends to make the experience a lot more interesting. For my friend and I we decided to dress up in a kimono and a maid costume, whilst another one of my friends who I stumbled across dressed up as Asuna from Sword Art Online.

But it didn't mean the boys in our group didn't get involved too in becoming "kawaii" is what they say in Japanese. Otherwise known as "cute". One of my friends is wearing a butler cosplay on the left along with a bow headband (borrowed from his girlfriend - they had matching cosplays it was super cute), whilst my other friend on the right, has been customised with cat whiskers using eyeliner and hello kitty style cat ears. I would definitely rate them an 11/10 in cuteness (just joking... Or am I really?) What would you rate these guys out of cuteness aha?

For those who don't know what cosplay is? Cosplay is a form of costume dress up usually of a fictional character e.g. from League of Legends, One Piece etc. For cosplayers, they take their time to make their costumes out of scratch including props, whilst others may take the option to buy their cosplayers which can be much quicker but may be more expensive.

Although for me, I chose to meet up with friends, there are many cosplayers who choose to attend specific meetups for their types of cosplays. At the convention I saw a Bleach cosplay meetup being held by one of the entrances and an Attack on Titan cosplay meetup by the green. This is a great way of socialising with new people, also with such a large group it is considerably safe especially as it is in held in such a well-known public place.

Overall, I found the event to be enjoyable with various events being held such as stage performances of several familiar acts as well as recognising familiar face. You don't even have to buy a ticket to have fun. I know many people who had a good time without a ticket, but buying a ticket allows you to have many opportunities available inside especially with some awesome purchases. If you're one looking for a haul of goods particularly related to anime, games or comics, I would recommend you buying a ticket, otherwise being outside is fun as well (as long as it doesn't rain, knowing the unpredictable British weather...) you don't miss out on too much in my personal opinion. If you are looking to attend MCM expo in London, the events tend to be held every May and October - I suggest you buy your tickets online in advance as it may or may not be possible to buy it on the day.

22:08 No comments

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